Traffic congestion on Rt66, Rt 495,Rt 123 !!!!! (Burke, Centreville: apartments, to rent, live in)

[vijuchida]

Hi,

My Husbands workplace is Mclean,VA

We are planning to rent out either at Archstone Woodland park in Herndon or Archstone Fairchase in Fairfax depending on the traffic congestion scenario. We know that both routes are congested during peak hrs but still is any one route more busier than the other........ and if anyone has travelled on these routes they can throw their views which are more practical than the mapquest times of travel.

His travel timings are - morning he has to be in office by 8am and evening he can only leave the office after 8.30pm.

Herndon to Mclean: Mostly he will be going on 267E/Dulles toll rd toward washington for about 9.3miles in the morning and same route return back in the late evening.

Fairfax to Mclean: Here there are 2 options,
i) On Rt 66 - 66 E toward DC (6.7m) followed by 495N via ext 64B toward Balitmore(2.8m) in the morning and same route reverse in the evg.

ii) Avoiding Hwy he has take 123N/Chain bridge Rd(6.0m) followed by US-29N for about 3.0m in the morning and reverse route in the evg.

Can he take Rt 66 bcoz he will drive alone?
Can anyone help me out to decide which routes are better during peak hrs comparitively?

Your answers may help us to decide on the apartment.

Thanks

[goldenmom7500]

Hi (!!!)

I'm going to let others answer this because I'm not an expert ... just some initial reactions:

Yes, he can take that part of 66 alone. I've already said this, but the 66-495 seems like a little bit of a brutal drive; that segment of 66 as you are nearing 495 is always bad; hopefully the 123 cut would be better.

Hmm, 267 is interesting! It hadn't occurred to me he would be able to take the toll road.

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by vijuchida

Hi,

My Husbands workplace is Mclean,VA

We are planning to rent out either at Archstone Woodland park in Herndon or Archstone Fairchase in Fairfax depending on the traffic congestion scenario. We know that both routes are congested during peak hrs but still is any one route more busier than the other........ and if anyone has travelled on these routes they can throw their views which are more practical than the mapquest times of travel.

His travel timings are - morning he has to be in office by 8am and evening he can only leave the office after 8.30pm.

Herndon to Mclean: Mostly he will be going on 267E/Dulles toll rd toward washington for about 9.3miles in the morning and same route return back in the late evening.

Fairfax to Mclean: Here there are 2 options,
i) On Rt 66 - 66 E toward DC (6.7m) followed by 495N via ext 64B toward Balitmore(2.8m) in the morning and same route reverse in the evg.

ii) Avoiding Hwy he has take 123N/Chain bridge Rd(6.0m) followed by US-29N for about 3.0m in the morning and reverse route in the evg.

Can he take Rt 66 bcoz he will drive alone?
Can anyone help me out to decide which routes are better during peak hrs comparitively?

Your answers may help us to decide on the apartment.

Thanks

Oh Jeebus, take the Herndon one. Fairfax will require you to take I-66, which is jammed solid for the entire 7 mile stretch you're talking about. He can take I-66 - it's only HOV-2 when you're inside the Beltway - but he won't want to. Route 123 from Fairfax to McLean isn't really any better. The 3 miles on I-495 N that's on the list are likewise also solidly jammed every morning.

The Toll Road, though, does move, and we're talking about cutting his commute time from Fairfax to McLean of 60-75 minutes in the teeth of rush hour, to 30-40 minutes on the Toll Road. It's a no brainer - move to Herndon!

Welcome to Northern Virginia!

[saganista]

The toll road is often no bargain either. Fairfax is about 5 miles closer to work and to shopping, Metro, night life, and so forth. All else being equal, you should probably prefer Fairfax over Herndon, but from your 123-to-29 route, I can't figure out how you can either live in Fairfax or work in McLean. Burke and Falls Church would make more sense. In any case, you do NOT want to commute from Fairfax on either 66 or 123. Both are simply horrible during particularly the morning rush. If you could be a little more specific about where the start and end points actually are, there are no doubt routes that do not involve 66 or 123 that you could use and make reasonable time on...

[goldenmom7500]

Originally Posted by saganista

The toll road is often no bargain either. Fairfax is about 5 miles closer to work and to shopping, Metro, night life, and so forth. All else being equal, you should probably prefer Fairfax over Herndon, but from your 123-to-29 route, I can't figure out how you can either live in Fairfax or work in McLean. Burke and Falls Church would make more sense. In any case, you do NOT want to commute from Fairfax on either 66 or 123. Both are simply horrible during particularly the morning rush. If you could be a little more specific about where the start and end points actually are, there are no doubt routes that do not involve 66 or 123 that you could use and make reasonable time on...

Saganista, there is a thread on page 3 of this board that starts "Any shortlisted apartments ... " where we ran through her scenarios. Basically the job is at Freddie Mac and the Fairfax apartment is near Fair Oaks/Penderbrook (this is after a lot of vetting, a lot of searching, a lot of suggestions; didn't think of Burke specifically though). I had recommended 123 as an alternate to the 66-495 scenario, but it doesn't surprise me that 123 might be a mess as well. Too bad. There seem to be other 'back road' options.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by goldenmom7500

Saganista, there is a thread on page 3 of this board that starts "Any shortlisted apartments ... " where we ran through her scenarios. Basically the job is at Freddie Mac and the Fairfax apartment is near Fair Oaks/Penderbrook (this is after a lot of vetting, a lot of searching, a lot of suggestions; didn't think of Burke specifically though). I had recommended 123 as an alternate to the 66-495 scenario, but it doesn't surprise me that 123 might be a mess as well. Too bad. There seem to be other 'back road' options.

Ah, missed all that...two weeks in Germany the first half of the month. Freddie Mac is tough no matter what, but from there, I would try sneaking out Spring Hill to Lewinsville, then down Great Falls to West Street in Falls Church, and over to Lee Highway. At Fairfax Circle, you have the choice of 29/50 or Old Lee Highway to 236 through Fairfax, either way ending up on 29 heading out to the Government Center area. Probably 17-18 miles all told, and maybe 45 minutes. Not familiar with the complex in particular, but there are some very nice ones in the area, all close to shopping etc. Both the Vienna and Dunn Loring Metro stations would be within a 20-25 minute range also.

As for 123, you can count on it being a bumper-to-bumper crawl in the morning from the west side of Oakton through Vienna to Courthouse Road just short of Tysons. One of the worst stretches around. Lee Highway can get heavy at times, but there's not much comparison to 123...

[goldenmom7500]

Originally Posted by saganista

Ah, missed all that...two weeks in Germany the first half of the month. Freddie Mac is tough no matter what, but from there, I would try sneaking out Spring Hill to Lewinsville, then down Great Falls to West Street in Falls Church, and over to Lee Highway. At Fairfax Circle, you have the choice of 29/50 or Old Lee Highway to 236 through Fairfax, either way ending up on 29 heading out to the Government Center area. Probably 17-18 miles all told, and maybe 45 minutes. Not familiar with the complex in particular, but there are some very nice ones in the area, all close to shopping etc. Both the Vienna and Dunn Loring Metro stations would be within a 20-25 minute range also.

As for 123, you can count on it being a bumper-to-bumper crawl in the morning from the west side of Oakton through Vienna to Courthouse Road just short of Tysons. One of the worst stretches around. Lee Highway can get heavy at times, but there's not much comparison to 123...

You're like an encyclopedia.

But ... what about leaving very early or very late? I know lots of people who leave at 4:30AM. 5:30AM used to work (not for this specific route, but still ...) Has it gotten this bad?

[saganista]

At 5:00 or 10:00 in the morning, the traffic should have rather negligible effects. I frequently do the latter, but have tried to avoid the former, at least since the days of taking my kids to swim practice...

[lchoro]

The commute between Woodland Park and Jones Branch Drive is the shortest and easiest route. Both locations are one block south of the Dulles Toll Road. They're located close to the toll road exits at Centreville Rd in Herndon and International Dr in Tysons Corner, respectively.

[TheStarLiesWest]

On a completely random note, I had a job at Tyson's Corner Center as a security job and on my first full day of work out of training, I had my car stolen from the 5th level of a parking tower and demolished in a car chase that ended in Mt. Vernon.

I still can't believe that, lol.